SWALLOWS: NORTHERN VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW 453 
State Records. —A specimen of the Saskatchewan Horned Lark was taken by 
Batchelder at Las Vegas Hot Springs, at 6,700 feet, December 13, 1882. 
SWALLOWS: Family Hirundinidae 
Living mainly on aerial insects, the Swallows have broad, flat 
bills so widely cleft that their mouths open to nearly under the eyes; 
wings long and pointed, “acute, and thin-bladed, of surpassing vola- 
torial power;” tail emarginate or deeply forked to facilitate rapid 
turns; and feet short, small and weak with well-curved claws apt for 
clinging, as they perch or cling when not on the wing. 
Reference.—Beal, F. E. L., U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 619, 1918 (food). 
NORTHERN VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW: Tachycineta thalassina lepida Mearns 
Plate 46 
Description. — Male: Length (skins), 4.2-5 inches, wing 4.3-4.7, tail 1.7-2, bill 
.2, tarsus .3-.4. Female: Length (skins), 4.2-4.5 inches, wing 4.2-4.5, tail 1.7-1.8, 
bill .2, tarsus .3-.4. Tail emarginate. Adult male: Crown and hind neck bronzy 
green to purplish bronze , nape often with a narrow purplish collar; back and part of 
wings bronzy green , usually tinged with purple; upper tail coverts violet , shaded with 
purple, sides of rump with while patches almost confluent; tail and wings black glossed 
with blue; underparts pure white. Adult female: Colors much duller, crown and 
hind neck varying from brownish to greenish or purplish bronze, and white of anterior 
underparts often tinged with gray. Young: Above sooty brown, back darker, faintly 
glossed with purple or bronze; underparts grayish white anteriorly (chest tinged with 
sooty brown), pure white posteriorly, white rump patches as in adults. 
Comparisons. —In flight, the white underparts suggest the Tree Swallow (p. 
456), but when the colors of the upperparts can not be seen, the white rump patches 
make a distinguishing field character in both young and old. 
Range. —Breeds from central Alaska, Yukon, southern Alberta, and western 
South Dakota south to northern Durango and northern half of Lower California; 
winters in Mexico and south to Guatemala and Costa Rica; migrates through 
western Texas. 
State Records. —In the mountains of New Mexico, the Northern Violet-green 
is the most common breeding swallow and breeds at far higher altitudes than any of 
the others. Below Pecos Baldy, it was found breeding at 10,300 feet, and in the 
mountains above Twining was feeding young at 11,300 feet (Bailey). But it also 
breeds at much lower altitudes, down to 7,000 feet at Fort Wingate (Hollister); to 
7,400 feet at Glorieta, to 6,800 feet at Canoncito, July 5, 1903 (Bailey); [6,500 feet, 
near Santa Fe (Jensen, 1922).] It breeds throughout the State north, south, and 
east to the Sacramento Mountains (Ligon); Capitan Mountains (Gaut); the Raton 
Mountains (Coues); and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Bailey and Ligon). [In 
the Sangre de Cristo Mountains it is widely distributed but nowhere abundant 
(Ligon, 1919).] It is found mostly in the yellow pines and most abundant in the 
Jemez National Forest. It is very common about Mt. Taylor and in the Black 
Range. Nesting begins at 8,000 feet on the Gila Forest Reserve, early in June, and 
it nests generally in June; [on June 12, 1920, four fresh eggs were found in the San 
Mateo Mountains, 30 miles northeast of Chloride, at 7,000 feet (Ligon)[; but young 
were still in the nest August 8, 1904, at Amizett in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains 
(Bailey); and on August 12 at Sawyer in the Zuni Mountains (Dearborn). 
